Xpress Yourself: How do you feel about the upcoming election?

Xpress Yourself: How do you feel about the upcoming election?

Bianca Mendoza

Diatetics 4th year

24 years old

I feel so and so. I’m not completely 100 percent prepared, probably like 50 percent. I’m getting my information from a professor at San Francisco State who actually sent us links to read up on the propositions and just getting more aware. Even though we don’t understand it, it’s a better way of becoming more aware of what’s going on. This club on campus is called Up 2 Us and it’s about raising awareness of the national debt. We’re asking students to sign our petition saying that we, as students, are interested in the national debt because it will affect student loans and if we’re entering the workforce it will affect salary wages, as well as health care. We’re a non-partisan organization, and this is getting me more interested in what is going on in the world and the news.

Nathan Bowman

Labor Studies/Sociology/Political Science 4th year

22 years old

I just mailed out my absentee ballot. I’m in a club called Up 2 Us that works to raise awareness about the national debt and issues related to fiscal policy. Now more than ever it’s important for people to get registered and civically active. I think a lot of people our age, ages 18 to 25, they’re not taken seriously in terms of politics or by local leaders. But this is a good way to get students civically active because issues surrounding the national debt really affects everybody, it’s just a matter of how you relate it to the students. And once you initially engage with people, I find that a lot of students are really interested. And not everybody can vote. There’s a lot of DACA recipients on our campus, so community involvement affects everyone and a lot of people feel marginalized by that.

John Hanson

Mechanical Engineering 4th year

21 years old

I definitely need to do my research this weekend. I don’t know anything, honestly. I just know it’s important, this is an important election. We just need to show up, basically. For my political beliefs, I would like there to be more of a liberal, democratic presence in Congress and everywhere in this country. And I’m not appreciating what the Republican Party is doing to our country. So, I would like to vote them out. I also want to get informed on the props here in San Francisco, because I’m not really aware of those. I’m just ill-prepared because I’ve been focused on school and not really focused on the election. I have this website saved, I don’t remember the name, but it does a good job of giving you non-partisan views on props and what candidate’s platforms are. You can usually filter through what is partisan and what is not.

Adam Hoang

Physiology 3rd year

20 years old

I feel really indifferent about it. I haven’t really been giving it much thought because I’ve been studying a lot and a lot of things are happening in my life. That’s pretty much it. I voted in the 2016 election, and I am registered to vote. My roommate tells me what to vote for because he’s studying criminal justice. He just tells me what I’m gonna vote for. And I’m just gonna Google it. But I do believe it is important to vote, I feel that it’s something we can do as citizens of the United States. I feel like it’s our obligation to vote. I’m not really sure about the issues, I have no idea what’s going on. I’m sorry.

Sebastian Vuskovic

Civil Engineering 1st year

18 years old

I just turned 18 in June, and one of the main reasons I registered is my grandma hammered down on me for the past three weeks to register to vote. My mom is very politically active, well both my parents because they work in school districts. They have a lot of props they strongly agree with because they will help them with their jobs and the school district funding in general. I always watched the news as a kid. I like the local news, KTVU, CNN, MSNBC. Sometimes I do dabble in FOX. So I get my voting advice from the news and my parents. I see a lot of young people who don’t like to vote, especially in California because we live in a bubble. Like, “Why vote? We’re all democrats anyways.” It’s the civic duty of a civilian to vote, and it’s important to have your voice heard.

Tatianna Cruz

Anthropology 3rd year

20 years old

Am I prepared? Mentally? No… All around unprepared. But I already voted absentee. I’m registered to vote at home in Santa Barbara so I don’t vote like San Francisco issues but statewide, obviously. I was talking to one of my anthropology teachers and she recommended the pissed off voters guide and other ones like that. So I guess I talk to other people about it but my friends usually know as much as me. In California, it’s a little less important to vote than in swing states but it’s still important.